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Genome of Neanderthal fossil reveals lost tribe cut off for millennia

11 September 2024

Analysis of DNA from a Neanderthal fossil found in a French cave indicates that it belonged to a group that was isolated for more than 50,000 years


Ancient people of Easter Island made return trips to South America

11 September 2024

DNA analysis shows that people from Easter Island had contact with Indigenous Americans around the 1300s, and finds there was no population crash before the arrival of Europeans


KEPXDK Australopithecus family

When did humans leave the trees for the savannah – or did they at all?

10 September 2024

Ancient humans are said to have evolved to leave the trees, where our primate ancestors lived, in favour of open grassy savannahs – but we may have this idea wrong


Greenland voyage sheds light on little-known ancient Arctic culture

6 September 2024

On a recent expedition, researchers braved summer storms in northern Greenland to learn the secrets of the ancient peoples who lived there 4500 years ago


An iconic tram driving along California Street with a motion blur effect

A gripping account of morality shows how we work out right from wrong

28 August 2024

Where do morals come from? In Animals, Robots, Gods, anthropologist Webb Keane argues imagination and differing senses of the world are key to discerning right from wrong


2CC11R0 France, Gironde, center of l'Entre-deux-Mers, bastide of Sauveterre-de-Guyenne (13th century) (Saint James way), semi aerial view with the bell tower

This blend of spy caper and climate fiction is top-notch

28 August 2024

For an undercover operative, Sadie Smith takes unnecessary risks as she infiltrates an eco-activist group. Why? And where do the Neanderthals fit into Creation Lake, Rachel Kushner's Booker-longlisted climate fiction novel? Emily H. Wilson loved finding out


The interior of the monument, called the Menga dolmen

Neolithic engineers used science knowledge to build megalith monument

23 August 2024

A monument in southern Spain that dates to between 3600 and 3800 BC appears to have been built with an understanding of geology and physics


Cocaine in mummified brains reveals when Europeans first used the drug

20 August 2024

The use of cocaine only took off in Europe during the 19th century, after the drug was chemically isolated from coca leaves, but new evidence suggests much earlier use


Stonehenge viewed from above

Stonehenge’s altar stone was brought all the way from Scotland

14 August 2024

The nearest source of the altar stone at the centre of Stonehenge has finally been identified – and it is at least 750 kilometres away in north-east Scotland


Altamura skeleton, displaying the same type of popcorn coralloid concretions. The two specimens are located in two separate parts of the cave. Not in scale. Photos by CB.

Why the amazing Altamura Man fossil remains a mystery

14 August 2024

A Neanderthal skeleton was discovered encased in rock in an Italian cave 30 years ago, but it hasn’t been studied much due to a long-running impasse about how to safely excavate it


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